Wiping strips for windshield wipers, as known at the present time, comprise a wiping lip of rubbery material, together with at least one stiffening element for stiffening the wiping lip. The wiping lip commonly comprises a base portion having two pairs of cavities, which extend longitudinally and which have a cross section in the form of a parallelepiped, these cavities being arranged on either side of the base portion. One of the two pairs of cavities serves to receive a stiffening element, which consists either of two metallic shims or webs arranged longitudinally on either side of the base portion, or a rod which overlies the upper part of the base portion. The free edges of the stiffening element cooperate with the pair of cavities mentioned above, while the other one of the pairs of cavities, disposed at a lower level than the first mentioned pair, serves to receive the gripping tabs normally provided on the mounting yoke for carrying the wiping strip.
The base portion is extended by a friction element for direct wiping engagement on a surface to be swept, the friction element being joined to the base portion through a neck zone which enables the friction element to undergo relative movement with respect to the base portion.
It has been found that such wiping strips have a number of drawbacks. Thus, assembly and fabrication operations are somewhat complicated and onerous. Indeed, in the case in which metallic strips are used as stiffening elements, these are generally given chemical treatment in order to protect them against oxidation: it is necessary to provide on the base portion, and/or on the metallic strips, locating means to immobilise one with respect to the others, in such a way as to prevent them from separating during the rest of the operative process.
Similarly, in the case in which the stiffening element is in the form of a rod, locating means are provided between the rod and the base portion in order to enable the assembly operations to proceed.
In addition, it is clear that the assembly operations are complex, partly because of the mounting of the stiffening element in the cavities that are provided for this purpose, and partly because of the need to use locating means between the stiffening element and the wiping lip.